Young Hines Give Me My Change

On September, 20th 1976 an unknown nurse wrote "Young Mr Hines" on the patient info sheet for the yet to be named newborn child. As the youngest of seven children, Young seemed perfectly fitting to his parents, and it stuck.

Young Stryker Hines grew up in Griffin, Georgia, a modest town about 40 miles south of the Atlanta airport. He began playing music at age 12 and hasn't stopped since. Within a few years he was recording his first songs at Real to Reel studios in Stockbridge, Georgia, and in high school began releasing his music via tape cassette, selling copies out of a local record shop called Turtles. Later in college he and a few friends started a 60's cover band called The Roaches, and to their own amazement found success opening for Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, among other icons of the 50's and 60's. Young made some pocket change and had some fun, but in 2000 he parted ways with The Roaches to produce a record for his eldest brother Matt Jordan. Together they played as the duo Bailey Jester, with Young taking high harmony on vocals while wielding an upright bass. They toured extensively across the US and Canada, playing over 260 shows over the course of a year during one stint, and released two records before deciding on a hiatus in 2004.

Without a current gig to tie him down and excited to explore a new scene, Young accepted a job in Chicago and made the move to the Windy City. Needing an outlet for the creative forces brimming inside him, Young got back to old habits of writing, recording, and self-releasing. He hadn't seen much success come of his own song- writing to date, but then again, since high school he'd hardly had much time to focus on his music. He started making demos in a home studio, selling hand-packaged copies at his occasional solo shows and to fans online. Tiny victories kept him going: a message on Facebook or MySpace from a new fan who had stumbled upon his tunes, or a word of encouragement from an audience member after a gig was all he needed. He never expected much to come of the demos as they left his hands other than a satisfaction that somebody liked his music enough to pay for it. But unknown to him the universe had other plans.

One day out of the clear blue sky he got an email from none other than Brendan Benson containing a cover of one of Young's own songs. Young could barely believe it as he sat listening to his own work acknowledged by a well-known and respected fellow musician. As Benson would relate to him, he'd come across Young's music by chance when friends of Young, who happened to be painting Benson's house, were listening to one of his demos as they worked.

Benson invited Young to travel to Nashville to meet in person, and the two had an instant creative connection, writing a song called "Keep Me" at their first encounter. Impressed with Young's talent, Benson expressed his interest in helping him produce an album. The decision was easy for Young to make. Like any aspiring musician, Young wasn't going to pass up a chance to seriously pursue his music, and after six years in Chicago, he was again getting restless for a change. He moved to Nashville, where he immersed himself in the city's live music scene, and recorded the album Give Me My Change with Benson at the helm in the all-analog studio Welcome to 1979 studios.

2011 was full of heady times for Young, reaching a highpoint while opening for The Raconteurs in autumn at The Tabernacle in Atlanta with home town family and friends in attendance. 2012 should bring more adventure with the release of Give Me My Change on Lojinx in the UK & Europe (and on Benson's newly formed Readymade Records in the US) and a European tour supporting Benson in May.